Homemade Vanilla Pudding
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Rich and creamy Homemade Vanilla Pudding made with only a handful of ingredients and 20 minutes of your time. Skip the boxed pudding, nothing beats homemade!
Have you ever made vanilla pudding at home? And I don’t mean the stuff that comes out of the box, I mean completely from scratch! You will love this recipe – in no time at all you can have your very own homemade pudding and it will be the best you’ve ever had, trust me.
Pudding is one of those things that I grew up with. I’ve always loved it, there are so many varieties! Vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, rice pudding, you name it, I’ll eat it. Quick to put together, even quicker to disappear. It might sound plain, but when you serve it with some berries like I did, you’ve just made an exquisite dessert in only 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions, or click the Jump To Recipe button at the top.
- Milk – You can use any milk of your preference, but I wouldn’t recommend skim milk or low fat milk, 2% or 3% would work best.
- Cornstarch – You can substitute with flour for a thickening agent – just make sure you are doubling the amount of flour in place of cornstarch.
- Sugar – Feel free to reduce the amount of sugar a bit if you choose, I’ve made it with half the sugar and it’s still sweet enough and delicious.
- Salt – To taste.
- Egg – Large egg.
- Butter – I used unsalted, you can use salted butter, but then don’t add anymore salt to the pudding.
- Vanilla – I used vanilla extract, you can also use vanilla paste if you wish.
How to Make Vanilla Pudding
- Heat Milk – In a medium saucepan heat the milk until it starts to bubble, over medium heat. Make sure to stir occasionally so that it doesn’t burn on the bottom, and watch it so that it doesn’t boil over.
- Combine Dry Ingredients – In a bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add to the hot milk, a little at a time, stirring continuously to dissolve.
- Add Wet Ingredients – In another bowl beat the egg and gradually stir a couple ladles of the hot milk mixture into the egg (this is called tempering), then pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Continue to boil and stir for another minute, then remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract until the butter has melted and the pudding is smooth.
- Chill and Serve – Pour the pudding into dessert dishes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled before serving.
How to serve
You can really add whatever you’d like to your pudding! Just make sure to let it cool completely before serving. I love mine with fresh berries – strawberries and blueberries are my go to.
You can even add your pudding to other desserts – layer or mix it into a cake, add it to a trifle like my angel berry trifle, or make a parfait – the choice is yours! However you choose to serve your pudding, guaranteed it’s going to be delicious.
Leftovers
Store leftover vanilla pudding covered in the refrigerator, it will last for up to 7 days! Perfect to reuse for parfaits or snacks during the week.
More great recipes to try:
- Berry Brioche Bread Pudding
- Chia Pudding
- Coconut Rice Pudding
- Acai Bowl
- Luscious Lemon Pudding
- Not Yo Mama’s Banana Pudding
- No Bake Banana Pudding Dessert
- Sex in a Pan
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
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Homemade Vanilla Pudding
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 20 mins
Serves: 4
Rich and creamy Homemade Vanilla Pudding made with only a handful of ingredients and 20 minutes of your time. Skip the boxed pudding, nothing beats homemade!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat Milk – In a medium saucepan heat the milk until it starts to bubble, over medium heat. Make sure to stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn on the bottom, and watch it so that it doesn't boil over.
- Combine Dry Ingredients – In a bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add to the hot milk, a little at a time, stirring continuously to dissolve.
- Add Wet Ingredients – In another bowl beat the egg and gradually stir a couple ladles of the hot milk mixture into the egg (this is called tempering), then pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Continue to boil and stir for another minute, then remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract until the butter has melted and the pudding is smooth.
- Chill and Serve – Pour the pudding into dessert dishes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Store leftover vanilla pudding covered in the refrigerator, it will last for up to 7 days! Perfect to reuse for parfaits or snacks during the week.
- Serve with fresh berries or whipped cream.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 232kcal (12%)Carbohydrates: 26g (9%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 10g (15%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Cholesterol: 73mg (24%)Sodium: 144mg (6%)Potassium: 178mg (5%)Sugar: 23g (26%)Vitamin A: 440IU (9%)Calcium: 145mg (15%)Iron: 0.2mg (1%)
Avril Sindhu says
It tasted great, but the cornstarch was not dissolving and kept clumping up. I had to drain the pudding before I let it set in the refrigerator. Is there something I’m doing wrong? I was using a whisk to mix everything while it was on the saucepan. I also added a little heavy cream with the milk to make it more creamy.
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
It could be because there was too much cornstarch mixture added at once, was it poured in slowly? I’m glad you made it work and it still tasted great. It’s super important to incorporate everything slowly and constantly mixed so there is no lumps!!
Lucinda says
This is the best pudding ever! Everybody loved it! I topped it with cut up strawberries, blueberries and a few red raspberries with a dollop of whipped cream.! I serve my pudding warm, but the fruit is cool. I think the pudding has more flavor when it’s warm.
Carmen says
So I love the simplicity of the ingredients and steps to take to make this pudding… so Why on earth are the measurements for the ingredients so far down the page?
IMHO, Way too much fluff to go through to get to the actual recipe.
jo says
There’s a button at the top of the post to jump to the recipe or print the recipe, then you can skip all the fluff. 🙂
Teresa Alsdurf says
Great and easy recipe!! Will use it again
Lena says
Mine came out pale. Not the dark yellow in the picture. Just egg yellows maybe?
Jo Cooks Team says
Yes exactly! Some eggs have paler yolks than others.
Kat Hanson says
For me, it was good, but not great… I’m sorry. I followed the instructions to the “T” without any alterations, but my results were on the thin/watery side, and I found the vanilla to be a bit strong, tasting the alcohol. (alcohol is not usually an issue for me, lol). I even cooked it in a double boiler to prevent burning or over heating. I will try again, but make some minor changes for my taste. I made your beef barley soup tho and loved that! 🙂
Maye Klingenberg says
I loved this! I tried making it just to find out I am out of vanilla, so i subed in brown sugar for the white and really maple syrup for the vanilla and it was amazing.
Sue Flynn says
I make this exact recipe for homemade vanilla pudding for my banana cream pie…. it is scrumptious…. <3
Traci Kenworth says
Mmm. LOVE pudding! This should make a nice treat!
Naomi Johnson says
This recipe is so easy and delicious. I use Lakanto Monkfruit in place of sugar as my husband is diabetic. We both love it and eat it with a meal that has lots of veggies, as the dessert is high protein and has enough fat. Perfect ending for a garden salad meal.
Elishbet says
A perfect pudding recipe. Thank you!
Elizabeth says
Delicious!!! And so simple and easy!
Laura says
Why did you change the instructions from when the egg & milk were whisked into the pan?
It’s SO much easier that way! I’m glad I copied the original recipe 🙂
Nicole Beaulieu says
This is a method called “tempering” and can help a ton in avoiding lumps caused by pouring the eggs straight into the milk. You are totally free to use whichever method you prefer!
Carla says
This was my first time making vanilla pudding from scratch and it turned out perfect. Thank you so much!
Joanna Cismaru says
Happy you liked it!
Chris Daisy says
So easy and delicious! Awesome for frozen vanilla fudgeicles!
Thank you for this recipe
jo says
You’re welcome! 🙂
AJ says
How would you make this if you were to use the vanilla bean?
Cheryl says
Great recipe, thank you for sharing! Was looking for a simple, whole egg recipe and this one looked good, tasted great! Ended up doubling the recipe and using a whole vanilla bean instead of the vanilla extract. Will definitely be making this one again, a real hit with the entire family.
jo says
Thanks Cheryl, so glad you liked it!